Lily's Weakness
by Enigmatic Wayfarer
Summary: A possible beginning to one of the most tragic stories within Harry Potter. My oneshot for Lily and James in their Seventh Year... Complete


**Although I wish I were, I am not the woman who owns all of the amazing Harry Potter characters, I'm just me… So here is Just Me's thoughts on a Lily and James beginning. **

**Lily's Weakness**

The red-headed girl paced impatiently back and forth in her dormitory. She kept throwing intolerant looks towards the door to the bathroom until she could no longer bear waiting.

'Hesty!' She called out loudly to the girl inside. 'Honestly; how long does it take you to have a shower?'

'Be tranquil, Lily.' A dignified young girl soothed the edgy witch who stood before her. She sat elegantly by the window, looking out. 'We have plenty of time. The team is still at breakfast.'

Lily stared at the girl disbelievingly. She made an indelicate sound before remarking bitterly, 'Trust _Emmeline Vance_ to remain calm on such a day as this!'

'Lily,' Emmeline reprimanded lightly, turning to look at her. 'I know that you are eager to get down to the pitch, but you can't push Hestia to shower any faster than she already is. Trust me; _we will make it in time_.'

Emmeline put great emphasis on the last part, in an attempt to calm her friend. Emmeline knew that when Lily Evans was impatient it took a lot of willpower to get her to compose herself.

The door to the bathroom was yanked open and a plump, rosy faced witch waddled out, drying her hair with a red towel. She grinned roguishly at Lily, 'Merlin, Lils, it's _just_ a Quidditch game.'

Emmeline rolled her eyes. Hestia knew how important the upcoming game was, and how excited Lily was about it. Being Hestia Jones, though, she could stop herself from infuriating Lily.

'_Just _a Quidditch game! Hesty, its the_ final_ between Gryffindor and Slytherin!' Lily shouted. She shouted so loud that their forth roommate started awake in her four-poster bed. 'Oh, sorry Andromeda.' Lily apologized to the lethargic girl quickly before turning her attention back to Hestia, who was roaring with laughter. 'You said that on purpose, didn't you Hesty?'

'Sure did, freckles.' Hestia teased as she threw her towel unceremoniously back into the bathroom. 'Don't pull that face at me- the only reason you don't like that name is because the Marauders started it.'

Lily glared at her short friend for a moment longer before turning to Emmeline, who was watching her with serene amusement. 'Are people on the pitch yet?'

'No. But the teams have already entered the changing rooms.' Emmeline answered.

Lily's face was overcome by a look of horror. She rushed towards the door, 'Let's go! Come on!'

Emmeline acquiesced and stood up slowly. She and Hestia both filed out of the room after Lily, sharing an exasperated glance.

By the time they reached the Quidditch Pitch, other students were seating themselves in the stands. Lily was almost unbearable. 'Look! Even the Headmaster is here, and there are those scouts that Remus was telling us about.'

'They're here to see Potter, aren't they?' Hestia asked Emmeline in an undertone. Emmeline nodded her head once and Hestia suddenly smirked, 'And so is Lily.'

Emmeline smiled slightly at this, but she made no response. Hestia grinned wickedly and continued to follow the enthusiastic Lily up to the top of the Gryffindor stand.

When the stands were full of energized students, Lex Jordan, the Sixth Year commentator began speaking, 'This is indeed the match of the year we have here today, Hogwartians and guests. What a show we are in for; our brave Gryffindors verses the sly Slytherins.'

Lily jiggled impatiently on her seat, and her two friends shared another glance over her head. Her zeal for Quidditch was not the only emotion making her so keen for the game to start. She had a secret. A secret that she would never admit to anyone. A secret that seemed only apparent to her close friends;

Lily Evans _loved_ watching James Potter fly.

This secret put a blemish on Lily's grand plan. She thought that if she ignored the fact that James had stopped hexing people for the fun of it, and the fact that he kept his war with Severus Snape private, that she could continue disliking him in peace and contentment.

But she had an inexorable weakness; his flying. She couldn't keep her eyes off him when he was on the pitch, and there was no helping it. Lily had tried, of course, to get over this particular fascination. She had tried to avoid Quidditch games by studying in the Library, for example, but she would always succumb and run off to watch the game.

'Here they are, folks.' Lex Jordan's voice drifted around the pitch. 'And it looks like these two teams will go to great lengths to beat each other today. Merlin, if Lestrange thinks he can find the snitch before Potter, he'd better have some nasty tricks up his sleeve…'

Lily sat upright on the bench and watched as the captains shook hands. With a whirl of colour, the teams rose into the air and the match began.

'James, hurry up, will you?' Sirius' voice called into the changing rooms. James chuckled softly and pulled his shirt on over his unruly hair.

'Coming, Padfoot.' James called back to him.

James looked into his locker. His eye fell upon a photo he had nicked off one of the Gryffindor girls. It was a photo of Lily Evans. Sighing forlornly, James pulled his wand out of the locker and stuffed it into his pants pocket.

'Do you always get so sad when you look at a photo of a broom?' Asked an amused voice from behind him. James spun around to see Sirius standing there, smirking.

'Huh?'

'You sounded so mournful, Prongs.' Sirius said and he pointed at the picture of Lily. When James stole the photo, he enchanted it so that only he could see that it was of Lily, everyone else saw a flashy looking broom, 'When you looked at that photo, you sounded as if your heart would break.'

James shut his locker with a snap and plastered a grin on his face. He turned and lied to his best friend, 'It might, if I don't get that broom for my birthday this year.'

Sirius laughed and shoved James out of the changing room. 'Come on, there's a massive party up in the Gryffindor Tower.'

James smiled tightly as they walked towards the Castle; his mind was on other things. Sirius coughed and said smoothly – aware of James' thoughts, 'Maybe if you get her drunk enough, Evans will actually say yes when you ask her out this time.'

His friends head snapped up and James stared at him, hard. 'Why do you think I'm going to ask Evans out?'

'James Potter, you just won the Quidditch Final and yet you look like you're at your mother's funeral.' Sirius said, not unkindly. They entered the Castle's oak doors. 'If that isn't a clear indicator that your mind is on Evans, I don't know what is.'

James smiled ruefully at Sirius. 'I don't think there's enough alcohol in the _world_ to make her _that_ drunk.'

'Don't be so hard on yourself, Prongs. You haven't cursed Snivellus in front of her for a whole _year_. She may have warmed up to you.' Sirius looked around to check that he wouldn't be overheard; he leaned closer to James. 'I'll tell you, she certainly seemed interested at the match today.'

In the dim corridor, Sirius could see the hopefully spark in James' eye 'Serious?'

'Serious as Sirius can be.' Sirius exclaimed and he grinned at James' withering expression. 'We're here. Just… relax, don't try to impress her.'

James started mockingly and looked at him with an expression of surprise. 'Advice from Padfoot. What's this world coming to?'

'What indeed?' Came a smooth voice from the already open portrait door. Andromeda Black stood in the archway observing them demurely.

'Ah, Andy, my favourite cousin of all.' Sirius said patronisingly. He walked towards her and put a belittling arm about her shoulders. 'We were just discussing a certain roommate of yours.'

Andromeda fixed her eyes on James. She smiled slowly. 'I'll bet you were. Come on in, Potter. They're all waiting for you.'

As he walked into the Common Room, there was a deafening cheer. Putting on his usual grin, James threw his arms into the air and the cheer increased ten-fold. 'We won!'

A crowd of students surrounded him; congratulating and praising. It took a full twenty minutes before the hype of James Potter died down and people let him move freely.

James scanned the crowd and saw the Marauders sitting with a group of girls. Among the girls was the stunning red head that James was looking for. Taking a deep breath, James ruffled his hair nervously and strode over to the group with more confidence than he felt.

James sat himself down next to Lily on a couch and looked archly at her. 'Evans.'

'Potter.' Came her reply. James winked at her roguishly and turned his attention to the rest of the group, knowing that he wouldn't be able to win her over easily. 'Enjoy the match, Wormtail?'

Peter smiled and nodded enthusiastically. 'It was great, Prongs! The way you tricked Lestrange into thinking that you saw the snitch! And when Malfoy tried to block you and you-'

'Okay, okay. You liked the match, we get it.' Sirius said loftily, making Peter flush. 'By the way, that move he pulled was called a Wronski Feint.'

The conversation abruptly turned to from James' flying techniques to Quidditch in general. James casually moved his arm to rest on the back of the couch and he turned his attention to Lily. 'So, Evans, enjoy the game?'

'It had its highlights.' Lily replied evasively; ignore his blatant outcry for an ego boost.

James looked slightly disappointed, but didn't lose all hope. 'Care to fill me in?'

'Not particularly.' Lily responded, turning her gaze from James to the rest of the group.

'Come on, Evans…' James complained, looking dramatically hurt.

Lily rolled her eyes when she heard two Sixth Year girls nearby sigh adoringly in James' direction. What surprised Lily was that James didn't pay them any attention; he kept his eyes on Lily's face.

'What?' Lily asked sharply, feeling uneasy.

'Evans…' James whined, giving her puppy-dog eyes.

'Potter…' Lily mimicked.

James slumped in defeat. Lily laughed at him. 'So now he sulks. Right on time.'

James glared at her. 'And what exactly is that supposed to mean?'

'Nothing, Potter. You wouldn't get it anyway.' Lily said and she rose from the couch and started to walk towards the Girls' Dorms.

'No, Evans!' James called after her. He jumped out of his seat and ran up to her. 'Please, Evans, don't go. I'll stop talking… just… don't walk away, please.'

Lily frowned at him, aware that his pleading was working on her. 'Why shouldn't I?'

James averted his eyes and looked slightly embarrassed. 'Because, well… this is the longest conversation we've had in seven years. Can't we keep talking?'

'We can keep talking another time.' Lily replied and made to walk away. James didn't grab her to stop her from leaving, he just said in a small voice, 'Please, Lily.'

Lily stopped and turned around to look at him. James cleared his throat nervously, 'Can we go for a walk?'

'A walk?'

'Yeah, around the lake, or something… I want to be able to talk with just you…?' James glanced back at their group of friends, who all suddenly looked away from the two and tried to pretend that they hadn't been watching them.

Lily knew that she was going to give in, and it frightened her. 'I… fine, sure, whatever.'

James beamed at her and weaved his way quickly through the throng of people to the portrait door. Lily rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm, and followed his out into the corridor.

They walked in silence through the deserted corridors until they reached the Entrance Hall. Lily stopped walking and looked at James. 'Is it safe to go outside at this time of night? You've heard about that new Dark Lord, haven't you?'

'Yeah, Lord Something-Or-Other.' James waved his hand dismissively. 'Don't worry, Evans, nothing will happen to you.'

Lily eyed him suspiciously, before looking nervously at the oak doors leading outside. 'Okay. But if anything does happen, I'm blaming you.'

'Deal.' James said, and he held out his hand to seal the pact. Lily out her own hand in his and shook it.

Before letting her hand go, James squeezed it gently. He opened one of the great oak doors and let Lily pass before him and turned to mutter to the apparently empty Entrance Hall. 'Give me the cloak.'

'Bullocks.' Came a voice without a body. After a second, Sirius, Peter and Hestia appeared in the hall. Sirius smiled ruefully at James and passed the invisibility cloak to him.

'Thanks, now bugger off.' James said sharply, but he smiled to take the edge off his words.

When he closed the door and looked at Lily, she was standing not far off with a slight smiled playing on her lips. 'Something amusing, miss?'

'No, nothing at all.' Lily replied, a smile belying her words. 'Everything is completely normal and not amusing. That's right.'

James chuckled softly and they started to walk towards the lake. 'What is normal?'

'Well, this certainly isn't.' Lily said, glancing between them.

James looked at her sideways. 'Not bad, though?"

Lily shrugged noncommittally, more to annoy James than out of actual indecision. In her mind, it wasn't bad at all. 'It's different.'

'Don't feel like giving straight answers tonight, do you?'

Lily laughed heartily. 'Not particularly, no.'

James smiled a bit ruefully and knocked her arm gently with his. 'Nice night.'

'Hmm.' Lily agreed, looking up at the sky. As they stood, side by side in front of the lake, Lily felt that she was in danger of losing control of the situation, and more importantly, losing her long-held decisions about James.

'What are you thinking about?' James asked her, after a certain amount of time had passed.

Lily sent him a funny look. 'Why do guys always ask that?'

'Because we're all idiots and can't ever figure out what girls are thinking… you in particular.' James said softly, and then he added, 'You're a mystery, one I definitely want to solve.'

'Should I take that as a compliment, or an insult?'

'I certainly didn't mean it as an insult, so – if you actually want to heed me – take it as a compliment.' James said honestly.

Lily nodded, but didn't trust herself to reply. For all her efforts, the feelings that she had been denying for months were beginning to take dominance over her old feelings of hate.

'Lily…' James started, shifting uncomfortably. 'You're not… interested… in someone at the moment, are you?'

'Why do you ask?' Lily asked cautiously.

'Well, if I were to do something outrageously daring soon, you might respond to it differently than I would hope if your thoughts were… concentrated elsewhere.'

'That depends on what you are planning on doing.'

James took a deep breath. 'I just wanted to tell you how beautiful I think you are.'

Lily looked down at her feet, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing from James. He didn't notice. 'Sorry, I didn't mean-'

'It's okay.' Lily assured him, looking up to meet his eye. 'I'm just trying to get used to this.'

'And what is this?' James probed hopefully.

'This! You being… not like _you_.' Lily finished lamely, feeling like she hadn't explained any of what she really meant, so she added, 'You being sweet.'

'I'm always sweet, Lils.' James said in a conceited tone, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

'See _that's_ what I'm used to.'

'Ah, but this time I'm only messing around.' James said, winking.

'_This time_.' Lily repeated, looking at him directly.

'Is that why you hate me? Because I'm confident?'

'I don't hate you. And I don't 'not-hate' you because you're confident, I 'not-hate' you because you're arrogant.'

'Arrogant? No, I only ever try to get your attention.' James said quietly.

'And why is that?'

James looked at her timidly, before turning to look out at the lake. Lily reached over and took hold of his chin. She turned his head so the he was looking right at her. 'Why?'

James took her hand in his and held it to his chest. He whispered tenderly, 'Because I'm in love with you, Lily.'

Lily didn't know how to respond to this declaration. She had known of his ever increasing interest in her, but she hadn't guessed that his feelings were so strong. Without warning, her head was filled with memories of the times when she watched him practise charms with Remus, or when she would sit in bed and recall the last Quidditch match she watched him play in, or when she would try to stifle a laugh at one of his jokes.

She had been kidding herself, to think that she wasn't interested in James. For all her lectures to her friends, and failed attempts to stay away from Quidditch; Lily Evans was as attracted to James, as he was to her.

James was watching her face closely, waiting patiently for her reaction. He knew what to expect; she would pull her hand away from his and possibly slap him across the face. He knew that she would storm away from him and tell all of their friends about his declaration. He _knew_ that she wouldn't keep her hand in his; and she didn't.

Lily carefully removed her hand from its place by James' heart and lifted it to his hair. She brushed his hair gently out of his eyes and smiled sweetly at his shocked expression. Slowly, she put both of her arms around James' neck and leaned in to kiss him.

The shock wore off a moment before her lips touched his, and James closed the remaining gap between them; their lips meeting in a hesitant way.

They broke apart for a moment. Lily smiled shyly at James. 'Would you believe me if I said that I think I love you too?'

James wrapped his arms around her waist. 'Do you believe it?'

Lily's smiled widened. 'Yes.'

'Then I do.' With that, James bent his head slightly and kissed Lily again. Their hesitancy had vanished and they kissed shamelessly, passionately and whole-heartedly; the way young lovers do.

**I hope you liked it, or at least you didn't hate it… let me know, if you wish it.**


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